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'Whale Wars': Call to action for Capt. Watson, July 20 protest

Capt. Paul Watson remains in Germany, pending hearings to determine if he will be extradited to Costa Rica on ten year-old criminal charges. He was imprisoned for ten days prior to his release at the end of May.

A call has gone out to all Sea Shepherd supporters for what is being dubbed a Day of Action on July 20, 2012. An online visual petition is amassing signatures and pleas for Watson’s freedom to be presented to German authorities.

Although Capt. Watson has been released from jail he cannot leave Germany until what followers and he himself call a charade and a politically motivated legal maneuver.

If that is impossible to do, the Sea Shepherd organization wants written petitions and captioned photos of supporters uploaded to its Flickr account or alternatively emailed to media@seashepherd.org. A link to a site with more information is posted below.

Watson is being detained in Germany for extradition to Costa Rica for an alleged “violation of ships’ traffic,” which occurred during the 2002 filming of the award-winning documentary, “Sharkwater.” He was arrested in Germany on May 13 on his way to Cannes.

Only last week, Captain Watson published his thoughts on this predicament in the Costa Rica Star. His open letter reads in part:

I have an excuse for not attending the current meeting of the International Whaling Commission.

I do grow weary of the annual charade now playing out in Panama. Once again the impotent, greedy, ruthless forces of anthropocentrism and anthrocultural imperialism gather to sit in judgment of the magnificent minds in our oceans.

Japan sees themselves merrily harpooning whales in the Southern Ocean in the future just as they envision the possibility of unrestricted whaling operations in the North Pacific and the Southern Ocean.

Sea Shepherd cut their kills to 26% this season. We cut their kills to 17% last season. It can be done and it can be done without causing injury to the whalers and it can be done within the boundaries of international law.” The full text of his letter can be found, here.

Watson went on to lambaste the Obama Administration and the current Australian Labor government. On the Animal Planet program, Whale Wars no matter how intense the action or how nerve wracking the moment, Capt. Watson is mild mannered. Not so when he is asked to express himself in print.

Told ya so just doesn't cover the trouble this guy is in. He should show what a great Eco warrior he is and show up in court without trying to fight the extradition. He's got nothing to worry about. Right?:)

so i would like to know all you guys who hate paul watson what would you do to stop the senseless slaughter of animals in our oceans you do not like what he does so give us some answers as to how it should be done

Let's separate several things here.
Let's imagine a guy accepts $500 to feed his family and pay some bills. In exchange, he agrees to burn someone's house down.
If I'm in favor of the guy going to court and letting a judge and jury sort it out, that doesn't mean I want the kids to starve. It also doesn't mean that I need to figure out how to feed the guy's kids if he goes to prison.
Paul Watson is that guy who needs to be extradited to Costa Rica and have his day in court.

Let's separate several things here.
Let's imagine a guy accepts $500 to feed his family and pay some bills. In exchange, he agrees to burn someone's house down.
If I'm in favor of the guy going to court and letting a judge and jury sort it out, that doesn't mean I want the kids to starve. It also doesn't mean that I need to figure out how to feed the guy's kids if he goes to prison.
Paul Watson is that guy who needs to be extradited to Costa Rica and have his day in court.

Well said.
What if you or I sailed around the worlds oceans sinking ships at will, throwing acid in glass bottles at other ships crew, boarding ships illegally , acting like cowboys in the wild wild west, putting lives at danger and risking polluting pristine waters in the southern ocean, what if we did this? declared myself a pirate? a vigilante? caused millions of dollars worth of damage? threatened fishermen? attempted to harm others? fouled their ships rudders? guess what ..we would be jailed just on piracy charges alone.
Watson must grow up and face the music, he committed the crimes now he must be held accountable for his actions. If any one of us ..we mere mortals who dont have unlimited donations to use to pay lawyers/courts/politcians ..if we behaved erraticaly and criminally we would be locked up.
Cosmetic surgery 7 celebrities seem to be more important than saving the animals who really need saving.. the endangered animals on our planet.

Watson is a very controlling cunning and manipulative man who has conned the public for almost all of his life. Donations have kept him living the good life he has never had to work , everything he has is paid for by donations predominantly.Watson incites hatred he incites the whalers, he doesn't want whaling to end.. his TV series would die a natural death if there was no 'footage' for WW even though the 'footage' is contrived.
How does he know how many whales he has saved each season? he doesn't do a head count does he ? no, he just makes up any number on the spot like everything else. He advises his supporters to lie as well. Just make it up. If he would stop harrassing the Japanese they would stop whaling. He incites them time and time again. Now who would save the animals.. its a fact of life that we eat meat, we kill animals.. animals also kill animals.. the Japanese are not acting illegally, they are allowed to whale. Like it or not. What animals are you referring to Mongo ? how about you concern yourself with the senseless slaughter of thousands of species of animals... people need to eat so they kill animals.. keep in mind that minke whales and harp seals are NOT endangered.
The oceans have been fished for thousands of years and people will continue to fish because its tradition and they have to eat. I think countries should be given quotas , these quotas should be policed by the governing bodies of that particular country, behaving like lunatic cowboys yahooing on the high seas is not the way to go, Watson knows this. BTW I dont hate Watson I pity him.
He has conned and lied for so long he believes his own lies. The oceans should be allowed time to renew itself with regard to fishing, due to the number of people on this planet evertything that walks or flys is fair game. We cant as Watson wants, eliminate a few billion people.. there is no real answer to over fishing.
Vigilante loonies who are self proclaimed pirates are not the answer either. Why Watson thinks he can thumb his nose at the authorities is a anyone's guess, he has touched on a soft spot with governments who dont wish to be called callous and cruel where animals are involved so he get's away with criminal acts and has done for decades. It's time to be charged in a court of law for all his past crimes and there are many.
The whales would be far better off without Watson's interference, just how many years does it take to 'stop whaling' ? According to Watson "whaling stops this year" ... only it never does.
He wants it to continue, he has a vested interest in wanting to prolong whaling. He has a way with words and has continued to con people and bamboozle with words. He is a fraud , his end goal is money ...fame, glory and to be remembered as a hero..that will never happen. He has all the money from donations but that's all he has, he has no respect he has no pride. No other conservation groups behave the way this one does.

The fact is, many species of animal have gone extinct because of man, yes I said because of man,
The japanese have been baned from wailing, But they changed to "Research" to keep doing what they want. it's unfortunate that our governments refuse to enforce the laws that are already on the books, and allow for loopholes to be used with out consequence,
What we have here is a coproration that is losing money because they can't get wales, Too damn bad.
its a shame when a corporation that doesn't answer to the people can pull the strings of governments across the world, There is a wale sanctuary that no one should be wailing in, Outside of that area. Its legal. In that area it's not.
Wales are a resource that is being destroyed by corporate greed, The wailers don't care and take babies or adults. True corporate greed.
I applaude Mr. Watson for doing what the rest of the world refuses to. Maybe we should arm Mr. Watson, donate all of the military hardware we are de-commissioning to him. Truly create "Wale Wars"
And I would suggest that the rest of you that want to allow the Japanese to continue to break the law, and don't know the real story to shut up and mind your own business, But I guess the only thing you want to do is clowd the issue and muddy the waters.

Bottom line:
Paul Watson is a wanted fugitive who's skipped bail.
Doesn't matter if he was jaywalking, saving the whales or selling cocaine.
Paul Watson is digging himself quite a hole--as are the people who are helping him hide.
Debating Watson's usefulness to the oceans is irrelevant right now. Sea Shepherd has real problems right now.